The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is the brainchild of filmmaker and graphic designer John Koenig, who says his mission is “to harpoon, bag and tag wild sorrows then release them back into the subconscious”. Koenig aims at all those nameless feelings words – until now – has not been able to define, making this dictionary one of my favourite sites ever. When I first came across it, it struck a chord with me, making me read every definition and watch every video. Every definition is so thoughtful, and every invented word sounds real.

onismn. the awareness of how little of the world you’ll experience. Imagine standing in front of the departures screen at an airport, flickering over with strange place names like other people’s passwords, each representing one more thing you’ll never get to see before you die—and all because, as the arrow on the map helpfully points out, you are here.

altschmerzn. weariness with the same old issues that you’ve always had—the same boring flaws and anxieties you’ve been gnawing on for years, which leaves them soggy and tasteless and inert, with nothing interesting left to think about, nothing left to do but spit them out and wander off to the backyard, ready to dig up some fresher pain you might have buried long ago.

vemödalenn. the frustration of photographing something amazing when thousands of identical photos already exist—the same sunset, the same waterfall, the same curve of a hip, the same closeup of an eye—which can turn a unique subject into something hollow and pulpy and cheap, like a mass-produced piece of furniture you happen to have assembled yourself.

moledro n. a feeling of resonant connection with an author or artist you’ll never meet, who may have lived centuries ago and thousands of miles away but can still get inside your head and leave behind morsels of their experience, like the little piles of stones left by hikers that mark a hidden path through unfamiliar territory.